


Let The Music Soothe You

by callmearenegade



Series: Above The Clouds Of Pompeii [5]
Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Baby Legolas Greenleaf, Daddy Thranduil, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-06
Updated: 2015-03-06
Packaged: 2018-07-26 14:36:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7577950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callmearenegade/pseuds/callmearenegade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Legolas throws a tantrum, Thranduil is overwhelmed. With 3 elven babies himself, Elrond ( with Lindir) help the flustered king.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let The Music Soothe You

The sounds of waterfalls and elf chatter could be heard as the festival continued. Though this was much smaller than the few festival and gatherings before it, yet the atmosphere was just as- if not more- energetic than any other. The sun cast its light over the tables of Rivendell. The shadows stood tall as dinner was served. King Thranduil sat at the head of the table, the rest of the table and the performance platform perfectly in view. His son sat peacefully in his lap, the young elf nodding off slightly. The elf king smiled softly as his young blonde son rubbed his eyes sleepily and let out a large yawn.

The journey that had taken place a few days ago from Mirkwood to the wonderful land of Rivendell, had taken slightly longer than expected and was not easy on the young prince. The prince hadn’t even begun to be taken on day trips away, yet the king would not even consider leaving him behind. The king knew that he couldn’t partake in the journey without his son. He knew he would end up having to turn back halfway; either due to the distress of his son or his own due to their separation. So he packed his small family up along with a few of his guards and they started their journey. Legolas surprisingly sat well in the saddle with his father, for much of the journey anyway. They had only expected the journey to take a little over a day and a half, stopping for one long rest overnight before heading out again. The journey had, however, taken roughly 2 and a half days. The whole first day, the inexperienced toddler had managed himself well, giving his father little to no problems. It was not until that night when he tried to put Legolas to rest, that the king had any problems with his son. The child would not rest, thus leading to no rest for his father. The group had early morning departure for Rivendell. Legolas still sat awake on his father’s elk, the gentle motion of it not soothing the child to sleep. The king and his guards had spent much of their early time as warriors, the lack of sleep not yet bothering them as they suspected it would the young prince. The journey continued as planned, until an unexpected spring rain had caught the group, thus resulting in a stop for cover out of fear of the cold causing sickness for the young elf. The rest of the journey included a long restless night for Thranduil and Legolas, and a tried grumpy group of elves making a mad dash for the city the next morning. 

Elrond had greeted the group, an amused smile on his lips.

“ You seemed to have been delayed.” the Lord jested. He met the eyes of the tired king and the restless prince before giving a gentle knowing nod to the father. 

“ Let’s get you all to your rooms, I imagine you are all in need of rest.” The kind lord stated before sending a few of his maids to take the horses,sending Thranduil’s guards with Lindir, and escorting his king and friend himself. The dark haired elf quickly showed the king to his room, making little chit chat along the way. The conversation was one sided as the king was too drained of energy to comunicate. The king pushed the door open. Legolas squealing and fighting his fathers arms. 

“ Please baby, you have much too much energy.” The king begged sleepily. He placed his son in the crib that was set in the corner, before turning to the lord.

“ Thank you, honestly.” The king had to fight a yawn. The lord gave the king a comforting and understand smile and placed a gentle hand on his arm. 

The Prince could be heard then, screeching to be taken out of the crib, crawling back and forth in the bed. The king groaned. He just wanted to sleep. The lord chuckled for a moment. It was something he had experienced many times with all 3 of his children. 

“ I could take him for you. He seems much too energized to sleep and to allow you the luxury. I could keep an eye on the prince for you. ” Elrond stated to his friend, striding to the crib that held the energized blonde, and gently pulled the elfling out. There were few the king would trust his son with, even fewer he would trust with his son when completely out of his sight and in a foreign land, but Elrond was one. The elf was an old friend of his, he had gone to his wedding, the king had been an attendant at the baby shower for Elrond’s first children - back when all were still under the impression that it was only one bun in the oven. He trusted this elf with Legolas.

“ Again, I thank you. Your hospitality is of legend.” The king doted. “Lack of sleep seems to be much more difficult for me now.” The king confided. Since he had returned from war without his wife and was now a single parent, lack of sleep hit him heavier than ever. In his early years of marriage he could go a good week without sleep before it started to faze him. Now, a few days and he was an irritable beast that resembles more of a man than an elf.

“ You can come retrieve him when you are ready.” The lord stated as he smiled at the small blonde child pulling at his braids insistently.

“ I may just leave him with you for the rest of eternity.” The king breathed as he laid his heavy body on the bed.

“ We both know you would get two miles down the road and turn around to take him back.” The lord spoke confidently from the door before he turned to close it. 

The king quickly stripped of excess clothing and passed out to sleep. He collected Legolas from the archery field several hours later. His son sitting on the lap of Elrond’s youngest as she and he sat watching the twins compete between each other over who could hit the target more. His elfling looked as energetic as ever and it had not faltered over the past few days. Legolas had only slept a couple of hours over the 2 nights they had spent in Rivendell before the dinner. Now, for the first time all journey, the father was watching his son’s energy falter. But Legolas was not going to go down with out a fight. 

The baby fought the weight of his eyes. He sat on the kings lap, pulling lightly on his fathers robe for his attention. The king continued to drink his wine, staring off deep in thought. His son tugged again, letting out an irritated sound. Thranduil heard the noise, patting his elfling’s back in a soothing attempt while still focusing on something far away. The young prince pulled hard on the loose strands of the kings golden hair. The tug pulled the royal from his thoughts roughly, his hand jolting and spilling wine down it. The king’s eyes quickly dropped to his lap.

“ Legolas!” The father stated louder in shock than he had meant. “ You do not pull on hair!” the king commanded firmly to the young elf. The elfling would have obeyed normally -bowing his head with a slightly blush and not meeting his fathers eyes for a few moments- that is, if he was not fatigued and irritable. 

The young prince- still not even old enough to walk- grabbed tightly onto his father’s hair, pulling hard again. 

“ Legolas!” the king grabbed the child and turned him to face him. The child did not let go of the kings hair and would not face the king, noises of protest could be heard from him. Thranduil faced his son, and knew instantly he would not calm easily, that the lack of sleep had finally gotten to the child. The prince quickly fell into a tantrum, his hands flailing around his fathers face and hair, his feet kicking, screams escaping the prince. 

“Legolas! Stop!” the king tried to clam the son, out of his element at the table with many sets of elven eyes on him and his son. He had only dealt with a single tantrum since he became the only parent to the prince, and luckily he had been able to escort the child away from the throne room and deal with the child. He still felt out of sorts- not knowing how to handle a child too young to truly understand what he was doing wrong- and now at the table, he was more out of his element than ever. 

Thranduil held the child steady, waiting for the child to tire enough to calm naturally. The method seemed to work, until a particularity good flail of legolas’ arms knocked the king’s crown loose and sent it tumbling to the hard stone floor. The crash of the crown as it hit the floor was not missed by any, those whose eyes had not yet caught the scene were now glued to the king and his son. The child in the kings arms silenced for a moment before louder wails and stronger flailing ensued. 

Lord Elrond watched from the complete opposite end of the table, his eyes meeting the kings struggle and the young prince threw a tantrum. The lord could see the overwhelmed look in the kings eyes. He could see how worked up the prince had become and knew- from experience- that the child would take a long while to calm naturally. He noticed the attention the duo had drawn and quickly decided to act. The lord cleared his throat.

“ Who would like some music? What about some wonderful harp music from our wonderful, Lindir?” The Lord suggested. The dark haired musician mentioned could be heard chocking on his wine. He quickly put his glass down on the table and shot his wide eyes to his lord that sat to his left. 

“ Lindir, Our guests would love to hear your wonderful music!” encouraged Elrond suggestively. Lindir’s eyes widened more, his body tensed.

“ I have nothing prepared, my lord.” Lindir admitted, caught completely off guard with the suggestion. He did not know where the suggestion came from.

“ Why don’t you play the music you used to play for me and my brothers when we were younger? The piece you called ‘winter winds’?” Arwen suggested from next to her father, catching his train of thought. 

Elrond nodded insistently to the musician, subtly nodding his head to the prince and his still struggling father. The dark haired harpist understood quickly, remembering the gentle and soothing notes of the song, catching his lords thought to mollify the child.

Lindir quickly stood and walked to the stage, a harp sitting in a stand- though Lindir would much preferred him own, but it was much to far away to go retrieve - that he quickly picked up and gave a weak smile to the audience before pulling the strings. After a few strings, he closed his eyes and relaxed, soothed by his own music and he listened for the silencing of the child. 

Thranduil held his son as the music began to play. A few notes in, he knew the intended effect of the music and whispered to the elfling.

“ Listen Legolas, Listen to the music.” He soothed and the babies cries quieted slightly, his flailing stopping. The prince sobbed for a moment before he stopped completely, his chubby fists rubbing his eyes tiredly.

“There you go, Little leaf. You’re alright.” The king cooed at the tired baby, pulling him to rest against his fathers strong chest. The baby nuzzled in, gripping the soft fabric of the robe and closing his eyes. 

The music stopped and the crowd gave a quiet but enthusiastic round of applause. Lindir smiled and looked at the king and the little prince- who now lay silent against his fathers chest- and smiled brighter. Lord Elrond saw the prince too, noticing the prince nearly out against his father, truly soothed. The lord turned to his musician and nodded at him in thanks. Lindir smiled and nodded back. 

“ Lindir, everyone. What an amazing musician he is!” The harpist dropped his head shyly and walked off the stage, many of the elves getting up from the table to speak with him as the band returned to play some dance music. 

Elrond stood and walked to the far end of the table. He stopped, the fallen crown at his feet, noticing the crack that ran down the whole thing, almost splitting it in two. He carefully grabbed the crown, running his fingers over the split. He held the crown carefully as he walked over to hand it to the king. The king eyed the broken crown for a moment before carefully maneuvering the nearly sleeping child on his chest so he could grab the crown. 

Thranduil held the crown in his hand as he eyed the split in it, feeling the frame weakening more with each second. 

“ I could have some of my workers try to mend it, if you wish?” Elrond suggested. The king only laughed.

“ He must have had a strong smack to break it, i’ve dropped it all the way from my throne down to the bottom floor before and it merely chipped.” the king continued to chuckle, Elrond jumping on as well.

“ It will not be needed, my friend.” Thranduil concluded. Elrond nodded. 

“ I thank you for your aide, I was at my wits end.” Thranduil stated at the lord. 

“ I have 3 children myself, I know how difficult they can be. Even Legolas. I have needed that aide as well. ” Elrond explained. The king nodded gratefully.

“ Thank Lindir for me as well.” The king stated as he stood. “ Now, I must get this one,” he nodded to the sleeping blonde child in his arms, “ off to bed, or else I fear another tantrum on the ride home.” Thranduil stated before he bowed his head lightly to his friend, and walked away. 

Thranduil walked back to his room and placed the sleeping prince in the crib.

“ So difficult, little leaf. Why do you have to be so difficult?” he whispered affectionately to the child before turning and going to bed.


End file.
